Define Family
by night2frost
Summary: Amber escaped from a lab only to meet a famliy still suffering from losing a family member. What does her orgins have to do with the the dead loved one?
1. Enter Amber

TMNT Fan fiction

4/12/05

Ch 1

Enter Amber:

Blood. Everywhere I turned I smelled blood and it didn't help that I knew it was coming from me. I spent most of my time in a small cramped cage thinking about my family, my old life, and just about anything else besides what I am doing here. It hurt to think that my brother had sold me to this lab but what he did to me before is just about as bad as what the scientists are doing to me now.

I curled up into a small ball and pretended to be asleep as the lab technician checked my vitals. I know that I no longer looked human but I had no idea what I was. The stuff that they put in me had caused my body to bleed slowly as it changed but apparently not enough to have them put an IV drip in or something else to make up for the blood that I had lost. I also knew that I am smaller which is a blessing because that means that my cage has just a little bit more room in it for me to move around in.

The tech has now turned to the side to write down some info on his board. Another advantage to being smaller is that now my hand is small enough to slip through the bars, into the side pocket of his coat, and remove his key card with him completely unaware. I knew he is forgetful and will try to hide the fact that he lost his card again until he could find it. He had left it several times on his desk. When he turned back to me I pretended to be asleep with the card tucked snuggly under my stomach. Tonight I am leaving.

The main lights have been out for a while now and I was nervous about leaving. I mean where would I go? I didn't have a family that I could go home to and the general public would just hand me over to the doctors that could just as bad as living in the lab. But did I want to stay here? No any place would be better then living here, I just will have to avoid my family and figure out what I look like. Maybe if I don't look so bad I could get myself adopted into another family. OK I know that is impossible but you can't blame a girl for dreaming, right?

I guess I should at least try and see what happens because who knows what will happen when these lab boys get bored. I tried to wipe off as much blood as I could from the key card, but that was kind of a useless gesture as all that had happened was a thin layer of red film now coated the sensitive black strip. I sighed as I stared at it, there was nothing to whip it on in my cage and I didn't think it would work coated in blood. I knew I would have to lick off the blood and let it air dry but that idea repulsed me. I mean it is my blood but this isn't like sticking my finger in my mouth after cutting it, which is an automatic response. This felt more like canalizing myself and that felt wrong, besides it looked gross I mean how many germs could be on that card?

Carefully I bent forward to lick it clean, trying to think of something else besides the coppery taste, and then held the opposite side of the card, from the black strip, in my hand as I let it air dry. It seemed to take forever but I didn't want to rush it and break the temperamental machine. When it was done drying I sipped the card through the blood covered bars of my cage and slid it along the scanner before hitting the keys that would open my door. I couldn't help but smirk to myself when the door popped open. '_Stupid doctors,' _I thought, '_think that I am stupid because I don't talk to them.'_

Looking over the edge of my cage I noticed that it was about four feet to the floor, an easy drop but to be on the safe side I tried to climb down but lost my grip halfway down and dropped the rest.

"Ouch," I said faintly.

I looked up and frowned, I used to be bigger then that much bigger. What else was different besides my height and strength, which was nonexistent? I walked towards the door, as I looked around in wonder at all the scientific junk lying around. It looked like something out of a horror slash sci-fi movie. For a moment I had a vision of mixing up some chemicals to create a small bomb to flood their toilets with but I had to quickly suppressed it because knowing my luck I would probably just blow myself up, I might of had high school chemistry but I didn't even know what a third of the stuff that I looked at was.

_Thump,_ I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't know that I was at the door until I ran right into it. After staring at the knob and keypad for a few seconds, I realized I had a problem, it wasn't the keypad, I knew the code but I couldn't reach either of them. I was too small. After a few minutes of jumping around, waving my arms, and berating myself for thinking that it would be this easy; I started looking around for something to stand on. I walked over to the chair on wheels and crawled on top of it to see if I could.

"I think there are some cats that are bigger then I am," I quietly grouch to myself. Standing on top of the chair, I noticed that on top of the desk was a thumb drive that had a cord attached to it. I picked up the cord and shoved it though the hole in the card and looped it over my head, now I didn't have to worry about dropping the card and smiled as I hopped off the chair.

'_I would expect for scientists to be cleaner and not to just let things lie around for little hands to pick up,' _I thought and laughed at my own joke before pushing the chair to the door. Once there, I climbed on top, slid the card though, pushed the code, turned the knob and grunted when I realized the door was too heavy to open. I put one foot against the wall and pushed as hard as I could. The chair flew out from under me, the door swung open, and I fell off the doorknob. How I managed to scurry through the door before it closed, I don't know but I am happy that I did.

After walking through hallways that stretched on forever, going down tons of flights of stairs, and bypassing the security guard sitting at his desk reading a horror book with a picture of a monster on the cover instead of watching the monitors, I came upon something useful. It was a shipping room, full of boxes and labels, and a stack of boxes to be taken out at four a.m. I guess that was smart to avoid rush hour traffic but it will be a blessing for me because it wont be until eight that they will have noticed that I was missing unless that guard decides to do his duty and watch the monitors. I looked up at the recording device and started making a box for myself. It took a long time because had to wrap myself up in packing paper and plastic to keep from bleeding on everything.

I copied down one of their addresses for a sister company on the east coast and taped it to the box before taping myself in by taping one flap and then pulling it down on the other flap while pushing the flap up with my head; because the box wasn't seal shut, I able to push up on the flaps to get some fresh air. I found it amusing that I was planning on mailing myself across country on their expense. Hopefully it will be far enough away that I can disappear before they find me.

I woke to the sound of the door being opened and two guys talking. When I knew it was the delivery guy, I held very still, and tried to breath quietly. I felt myself being picked up and place in the back of the truck with other boxes placed on top of me. After the door closed I had to pull a corner of the flap in and push against the side of the box as hard as I could for the entire drive just to get enough air to breath. When the truck stopped and the doors opened again I was surprised, thinking that I was already there but soon learned it was another pick up. By the third stop, I was becoming jumpy thinking that they had found me. It was on the fifth stop that I got tossed onto the back of a plane.

"For crying out loud, I thought I put 'fragile' on this box," I muttered as the plane took off. When I was certain that there were no one else in cargo hold, I forced my way out of the box and wondered around the area. Besides a few animals traveling cheaply, like me, no one was home. I gave the dogs a wide berth when one of them tried to attack me. I knew if I stayed in my box I would be caught soon. I began searching franticly for a box my size. When I found it I moved the stuff in it into another box, and took the stuff from that box into my lab box, hoping to buy myself some time. Then I taped myself back into my new box. New York sounded like a big enough city to get lost in.

I waited for the delivery truck to stop a few stops into the trip before making my escape. Unfortunately I spotted by the sales guy and the deliveryman who started chasing down the street. I looked behind me at the men chasing me and didn't see the sanitary worker's truck or the bars that I ran under or the open manhole that I fell through.

There is one thing that I can say about sewers and that is they are dark, smelly, slimy, and my new best friend. As soon as I got to my feet I ran! I ran down one turn and then the next, sometimes dropping several feet only to land in another set of tunnels.

Soon I realized I was truly lost and no one was following me. Exhausted I leaned against the wall or at least what I thought was a wall until I fell backwards down a tunnel and into a ditch. Standing up I felt my way around and found myself to be in some pit with slick walls. I was trapped; even with a running jump I couldn't reach the ledge of the tunnel I fell out of. Everywhere I heard bugs and critters moving.

I don't know how many days or even weeks I have been down here but I do know that I have gotten pretty good at catching those critters and eating them. I am so glad that it is pitch black down here because I don't want to know what I have been eating. If I survive this fever I have and my ankle stops hurting, maybe I will be able to one day grow big enough to get out of this whole I am in. Tired, I curled up into a small ball and tried to ignore the insects that were feeding off of my blood.


	2. That's Not Funny!

Ch. 2

That's Not Funny!

(Looks around nervously) Ah yes, I guess that you've noticed that I forgot the disclaimer. Well this is my fist fan fiction and I had posted it before I realized that. (Sigh) I will be making a lot more mistakes. In case you didn't already know:

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing especially mutated turtles and rats… Now genetically altered humans that go by the name of Amber…

Guess who's POV.

OK, OK I know it was in bad taste but I honestly thought if I had gotten Raph angry enough he would chase me, beat the tar out of me, run off into the night and then come back behaving like well Raph. The last thing I expected him to do was to start crying before going into his room to hide. I mean come on this is Raph we are talking about! The: my shell is tougher then reinforced concrete bad turtle himself. Who would have thought that such a tough exterior could have such a soft interior?

I mean we were all hit hard when Splinter died but it was to be expected that with all the fighting that we did that one of us would have gotten killed but back then I had liked to live in a dream world were the 'good guys' always win. And in a way we did win. The foot clan was destroyed and we are now living peaceful lives. I think the only thing that hurts the most out of all of this was that we were never able to retrieve the body before the public officials came and our father was probably dissected in a lab somewhere.

We searched but we never found his body. All of us were hurting so Donny decided that we need closure and Leo put on the funeral. After awhile Donny, then I, and finally Leo started to bounce back to normal but not Raph.

It was like the light went out of him. I thought that with all of his fights and 'talks' with Master Splinter that he would have been glad to be free from his restraints. It wasn't until latter that Donny had realized that the reason Raph had acted up so much was to get attention from Dad. It was his way of shouting out, "look at me, love me, I'm your son too!" He had tried other ways but no matter how much he practiced ninjitsu he just didn't have the natural grace of Leo, he wasn't techno smart and couldn't provide anything that compared to what Donny could, and he didn't have the natural charm that I had.

That's how Splinter died; Raph was acting up again and went topside where he was captured by the foot. We had to fight our way in and in the processes of taking out the Shedder he took out Splinter by grabbing his tail and pulling him down the gapping hole in the center of the building that was now a raging inferno of fire. And Raph blamed himself. At first we agreed with him but then came to terms with the fact that it could have been anyone of us and that had been capture and it was just Raph's luck that it was him.

It has been over a year and Raph still blames himself. He has to be forced to do anything, eating, bathing, and practicing ninjitsu, even sleeping. Otherwise he just sits there staring at nothing like he could never get past that moment. Donny's afraid he might become suicidal, so we watch him, April has even moved down to help us after she got out of the hospital. She and Casey had tried to help but they soon got frustrated, when Casey got a job offer to be a coach for a kid's hockey team, he took it, and they moved out west.

So, in a desperate attempt to break him out of his shell, so to speak, I tried playing jokes on him and teasing him during practice like old times. During the attempt I accidentally said something that reminded him of our last training lesson with Master Splinter in which Raph had gotten in a fight with him. It was like watching hope die. Leo and Donny rounded on me so fast that I am surprised that my head is still attached.

"That's not funny, Mikey," they both yelled before heading after Raph with a sedative. I decided to get while the getting was good and wondered around the sewers for a while, breathe the foul air, and visit Splinter. We had a grave marker way out on the farm but for me I need him a little closer to home. A long time ago I had found my hideout with smooth walls where I would practice my art for hours. It wasn't hard getting spray cans from the graffiti drawing punks; the hard part was finding enough space for my drawings and keeping it a secret from my brothers.

After Splinter died my mural of my family became Splinter's memorial for me. I always came here when I needed to talk to Splinter and once I tried to take Raph here but he wouldn't leave the lair. Nowadays he only leaves when all of us are with him. Donny said it is because he is subconsciously afraid that if he left alone then one of us would die. For the longest time he wouldn't let us leave alone either and when we did he would question us ferociously. I think he is worse then Leo.

I felt along the wall for the light switch to the room, heh you thought that Donny was the only techno turtle of the group? To be honest he is a genius and taught me everything I know from building my game dude to repairing all the minor appliances around the lair.

We have a running deal, that I will do all the minor work leaving him free to pursue his works as long as he didn't tell the rest of the family. There was no way that I was going to let them know that and being a ninja allowed the repairs go undetected overnight for years. I always have to wonder why they never notice that when they broke something major, I would always be sleeping in the next day, I guess they just think that I was up late watching reruns.

Though I am going to have to bug Donny and do something stupid to one of his experiments again in case my other brothers are getting suspicious about my skills; Raph caught me fixing the oven and of course thought I was going to fry myself but there is always that risk. Besides its fun seeing Don's expression every time I do that even he threatens to expose me every time I do it. He has good reason to be nervous when I come near one of his experiments; nothing is more dangerous then a turtle with a enough knowledge to know how to 'innocently' cause mass chaos.

I found the switch and turned on the light before hopping down into my cavern. I smiled up at Splinter and bowed in a traditional greeting.

"Well, I sure messed…" I never finished the sentenced as a small piece of the ground at his feet moved and slowly stood up unfolding into a very large rat about the size of small child, wrapped in paper and plastic and covered in reddish brown dirt that looked like blood.

"Master Splinter… No it can't be! You're too small! He is dead! I… You…" I couldn't breathe. When it got up and walked me I backed up into a wall and when he reached out to touch me I screamed. Master Splinter has come back to haunt me for what I did to Raph!

"Don't be afraid, I wont hurt you," she said and I knew that she wasn't Master Splinter because he was… well, a boy.

Sighing in relief and gathering up all my charm I smiled at her and said, "Hi!" Then she fell to the ground out cold. OK… now I know my breath isn't that bad. I gently shook her shoulder but quickly withdrew my hand when I noticed that she was burning hot and saw that my hand was covered with blood not dirt.

"Ah man," I murmured before picking her up to bring her to the lair, "Raph is going to through a fit." I still remember when I used to say that about Leo.

OK so I know a lot of you might want to argue that this Mikey is not Mikey but this is my first fan fiction so some leeway needs to be given here.


	3. Exposed To The World

TMNT Fan Fiction

Ch 3 Exposed to The World

Disclaimer: Only in my dreams do I own them, in the real world I don't.

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Leo's POV:

After chewing Mikey out for his crewel prank on Raph, I quickly followed Raph into his room. I found him hiding in the back corner of his closet crying. I just stood there staring at him. It always disturbed me to see him like this and in the beginning I used to leave him alone but that only made things worse and he had become so depressed that he almost starved himself to death. If Donny hadn't noticed I think Raph would have died. First Donny put an IV in and then we had to take turns force-feeding him and even now he is listless and will only eat when he is told to.

I walked in and sat down next to him.

"Go away Leo," he sobbed into his arms as I gave him a hug.

"You know I can't do that," I whispered quietly to him. I was always shocked at how much weight he hadlost. Despite our best efforts he had lost about 2/3 of his muscle weight and looked almost too fragile to move.

I gently picked him up and carried him into his room and tucked him into bed. I have perfected my technique of holding him and flipping back the covers at the same time. I sat down on the couch next to the bed and watched him while waiting for Donny to arrive with the sedative.

"Do you hate me Leo?"

"No, Raph you did nothing wrong," I said thinking about today.

"But I killed…" he started crying again. Damn I thought we were making progress and Mikey just ruined it with a few careless words.

"No you didn't Raph. It could have been any of us," I said it a little too forcefully and Raph shrank back. I tried to reassure him with comforting wordsbut he just buried himself further into the blankets.

How many times did I wish for Raph to stay home instead of going out into the night to bust heads, or to listen to me, or to not fight with every one of his family members? How often did I wish that Raph would not be so much Raph? Now my wish had come true at the price of Raph's soul. It was like every single emotion that he hid behind his tough shell exterior had been put on display and now he has nothing to hid behind. It's like he is a little kid and that makes me want to shake some sense into him. It's ironic that no matter what Raph still manages to get under my skin.

Donny came in and gave Raph the sedative. We watched him as he slowly fell asleep.

"Do you think that he would be this bad off if we had gotten there earlier," I asked Donny sighing.

"You mean before they administered that wierd hallucinogenic drug? Yeah... or maybe if we had known," Don shook his head sighed before he left.

When we had gotten to Raph he had seemed tired and beaten up but he was lucid enough to want to fight. It was only later that we learned that Raph believed that he had pushed Master Splinter down that hole. He had forgotten that he was trying to save Master Splinter or that he was fighting several foot soldiers and Elite guards at the time.

By the time we realized what was going on the drug had longtaken ahold ofhismind and he believed that he was guilty of our Master's death. It didn't help that we had agreed with him in the beginning and now he has to rely on us to know what hadreally happened.

Don's been trying to find a way to revive his true memories and fix the chemical imbalance in his brain. Basically Raph can't stop himself from showing every emotion he is feeling and believing the lies planted there. Untilhe is curedwe have to watch him all the time and in a way it is a blessing that he wont leave the lair without us, but I really wish that we had the independent self-centered jerk back.

Mikey's back, I can hear him talking to Donny about something he found. Curious I got up and walked to the door. Mikey was holding something in his arms and as he and Donny turned towards the lab I sight of reddish brown fur. A puppy or maybe a cat, I can't believe he wants us to take care of something else, I mean we already have one time consuming responsibility and we don't need another.

I glanced at Raph to make sure he was asleep before heading quickly to Donny's lab to tell him that we are not having a pet. When I entered Mikey looked up at me nervously and said, "Oh, hi Leo… you are not going to believe what I found."

I walked over to Mikey. "Mikey," I said glancing at the table, "I don't care what you… what the shell!" Lying on the table was Master Splinter… no wait… this creature is too small. I feel faint. Even though I had held the funeral. Even though I knew he was dead. I still had hope that maybe just maybe he wasn't. I didn't realize that that hope still existed or how painful it was to have it bloom only to be crushed by the truth.

"Where did you find him," I asked.

"Nope not him… her," Mikey said with a little humor in his voice.

"Mikey…" I said with a little warning in my words. This was important and now is not the time for Mikey to be playing one of his games.

"In the sewer," Mikey said evasively.

"Where in the sewer," I asked exasperated.

"Around," Mikey replied.

"Mikey this is important," I tried to reason with him. I knew he had better memory then that!

"Mikey," Don spoke up, "I could always tell him about…" He left the threat hanging glancing at his computer.

"You wouldn't," Mikey exclaimed. He sounded horrified and the way he was fidgeting now made him look more in need of the bathroom then anything else.

"Mikey has been…" Don started slowly.

"I found her in my secret hideout," Mikey blurted out so fast that I almost didn't catch it. Mikey had a secret hideout. I almost laughed out loud but then this was Mikey, the one who never put away his childish toys of his youth when it was time to grow up, oh this I had to see! Also, I had the perfect excuse to see it lying right next to me. But I had to wonder what Mikey had done with Don's computer, cyber sex… ebay… no he probably just crashed it. He has absolutely no technological skills.

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**pacphys:** In the new episodes we see Mikey setting up the TVs and when asked to fix the water heater Donny said, "Why is it always me? Why don't you ask Mikey…" Anyways I am not saying that Mikey is a techno genius just that Donny had taught him how to do minor repairs so that Donny can have more time with his inventions.


	4. Frightening Thoughts

TMNT Fan Fiction

Ch 4 Frightening Thoughts

Disclaimer: Only in my dreams do I own them, in the real world I don't.

Don's POV:

When Mikey had came running into the lair carrying what looked like a small dog I was going to yell at him for disturbing the quiet, Raph could wake up from the racket he was making. I would have used a stronger drug but it normally knocks him out for a day and when he wakes up he is very disoriented. So, I use the lighter drugs that have less side effects but it makes it easier to wake him up with too much noise.

When Mikey drew near and I saw what he was holding I felt my mouth drop open. Master… no he, err she was too small.

"There has to be a reasonable explanation," I mumbled.

" Maybe Master Splinter had a girlfriend," Mikey suggested.

"It would have had to have been just before he died," then I thought about what I said, "Oh, ewww, gross Mikey. Master Splinter can't have had a girlfriend Mikey, we would have known."

I turned away and tried to suppress a shudder at the thought of Master Splinter and a woman… No, no, no it would be like one of us…. Ahhh, stop thinking such perverted thoughts. First take care of girl, then find were she came from, and finally decided what to do with her.

"If she is Master Splinter's daughter, then is she our sister," Mikey asked, " Do you think she has a name or can we name her? What do you think of the name Fluffy? Or maybe…"

"No Mikey we are not naming her and we don't know if she is related to Master Splinter genetically," I said.

"But she looks exactly like Master Splinter… same fur, ears, and tail," Mikey complained.

"And so does every other common brown rat in the entire world," I said exasperated.

I began checking her over for injuries and found mild hemorrhaging at the root of her fur follicles and nails know as scurvy, which could be cured by upping her intake of vitamin C. Though by the looks of things any food would help, she is nothing but fur and bones. She needs an IV for dehydration and to replace the blood she had lost, and because she is the only rat in our home, she will have to make do with sugar water. Also she had a lot of insects crawling through her fur and would need to have that cleaned out.

But first thing first and that is to get an IV into her with the addition of vitamin C and then splint her sprained ankle. Then while she is sleeping I can take a blood sample and see if she is related to Master Splinter. However, there was one problem to this plan and that is that Mikey wont shut up or get out of my way.

"Mikey, if you don't shut up and get out of my way," I growled, "I will tell Leo that it was you that had uploaded Bunny's Palace on my computer when we were thirteen."

At the mention of the dreaded video game Mikey's eye grew large and frighten as he shut his mouth and edged away from me, "You…"

Just then the door opened revealing a very irate Leonardo. Mikey looked like he was going to have heart attack. Did he hear?

It soon became apparent that he had not but I still couldn't treat the rat girl because now Leo was standing in the way. I had to get them out of there fast and if it meant threaten Mikey with Bunny's Palace and with it exposing the fact that he has done most of the minor repair jobs throughout the lair, so be it. Luckily Mikey didn't press me and told us about his secret hideout. I don't know if Mikey will ever let go of his childish tendencies but this was something I had to see and I could tell Leo agreed with me.

Then Leo started giving orders, "Mikey you are to take me to your secret hideout to make sure that the place you found her and our Lair will have no connections to whoever is looking for her. Don you are to take care of our guest and Raph while we are gone. OK, let's go."

Mikey got up and started leading Leo to his secret hideout, looking as down as I felt. I wanted to go to but I have two very sick creatures to take care of.

It was a while latter that I was looking at the rat girl's blood that I heard Raph shout out, "Master Splinter, NOOOOO!" from right behind me.


	5. Raph's Reality

Sorry about the late update... anyways...

Disclaimer: I don't own them and never will.

Raph's POV:

I am having those awful dreams again. Master Splinter is trapped in a cage and bleeding. Master Splinter is trapped in a tube of water. Master Splinter is being carved into as he grimaces in pain. Master Splinter hang limp in some dark cold room. Master Splinter falling down the building as I just watch. Master Splinter and I having a fight before I storm off into the night. Master Splinter finding me under a grate in the Bronx that one night that I ran off when I was ten. All these images flash by me rapidly before they settle down to one.

I walk across the concrete floor in the cold room to Master Splinter. He looks so lifeless lying strapped to the metal table. I reach out to free him but my hand just passes through his. Why can I never help him in my dreams? I feel tears of bitterness and pain at my inability to help him slide down my face. I hear voices murmuring in the background but can't make out what they are saying. All of a sudden I notice Master Splinter looking at me, "Raphael…"

I jerk awake. I weakly get out of my bed, instinctively searching for my brothers when I notice that no one was in my room watching me as I slept, like they always did. Why do these dreams mess with my mind? They are not real. Master Splinter is dead. I did not kill him. I loved him and he loved me. This lair is real. My brothers living with me in the lair is real. That couch with the TVs is real. Donny working in the lab is real. Master Splinter lying on the bed covered in blood with an IV tube sticking out of his arm is…. What!

"Master Splinter, NOOOOO!" I screamed.

I put my hand on Master Splinter's arm and gasped when I touched fur stiff with dried blood and some new blood. I felt arms circle around me pining my arms to my chest and pulling me away from Master Splinter.

"Raph, stop. Don't touch her. It's OK. Just calm down," I heard Donny calmly instruct me.

What is he talking about? No, it isn't OK. Master Splinter is bleeding to death and Donny isn't doing anything to help him. This is wrong. I am being forcibly pulled out of the room despite my struggles. I push against his arms, I kick at him, I even try to bite him, and he still manages to get me into the kitchen.

Once he has me sitting at the table he tells me to stay there. Yeah, right! As soon as his back is turned I try to sneak out to help Master Splinter but all of a sudden my world flips and I am staring at the ceiling. An irate Donny glares at me with his _bo_ in his hand. I reached for my _sai_ but find them missing from my belt. Where did they go? Oh, yeah, Leo took them away from me when I tried to kill myself with them.

Donny looks at me for a few minutes before going back to whatever he was doing. I tried to get up but all I could do was rock forwards or backwards or side-to-side, I am just too weak to shift that much weight into the type of spring needed to get back on my feet.

"Donny, please can you help me get up. I can't breath," I pleaded. It was true that being on my back made it more difficult to breath but it was only an excuse so that I could get back to help Master Splinter.

"You will be fine as you are for now," he responded emotionlessly. He opened some cupboards and the refrigerator. The sink went on and off and the stove went on. During this entire time I yelled at him to help Master Splinter and called him cold and heartless and he just ignored me. This isn't real. The Donny I know wouldn't leave Master Splinter like that. The Donny I knew was kind, caring, and sensitive. This isn't real. This isn't real. This isn't real. Please go away. I want to be in reality.

Donny came towards me with a steaming cup that smelled like chicken soup but it probably had something extra in it. Should I drink the soup if it wasn't real? No, I have to go help Master Splinter and in this dream I can because I can touch him. I tried to take a swipe at Donny as he bends down but he pins my hands under his knee and against my plastron. I used to be stronger then this! He is soon forcing the concoction down my throat with an expressionless face. He doesn't even spill a drop. I guess I have been giving him too much practice.

He leaves me for a moment and then comes back to look me in the eyes to see if the drug has taken effect. Satisfied with what he sees, he helps me up, and sits me at the table. Placing a bowl of soup in front of me he orders me to eat it and I do so with childlike obedience. I'm so pathetic. I tried to fight it and I think Donny saw it because he soon had me drinking a tea that made all my worries melt away. Everything is good and I am so happy.

Donny is talking to me. He tells me that the rat in his lab is not Master Splinter but a young girl rat. I accept this like everything else they've told me.

"When did Master Splinter have a daughter," I ask.

Donny pauses then says, "Just before he died but we didn't find out about it until recently."

"Oh," I say, "Does she have a name?"

"We will ask her when she wakes up and if she doesn't we will give her one," Donny replies.

"Why is she hurt," I ask.

"She got lost in the sewers," he answers cautiously.

"She should stay in the lair where it is safe," I informed Donny.

Donny looks at me with a sad remembering look. I think he is sad she got hurt in the sewers.

"I will keep her safe in the lair," I tell him in hopes of easing his pain.

Donny quickly gets up and collects the dishes before he takes them to the sink. While he is washing the dishes I think I hear him crying. He must really care about Splinter's daughter. After Donny is done with the dishes he comes over, takes my hand, and leads me back to my bedroom where he tells me get my art supplies. I quickly grab my sketchbook and colored pencils. He takes me back to the lab and sits me at the desk and tells me to draw.

I slowly start to draw my dreams and write things next to them. Donny will latter take my books and talk to me about my dreams and try to cure me. I know I am sick and need help but how can I stop dreaming or seeing things. Donny talks to me a lot about my childhood. Sometimes he gets happy and says I am making progress and other times he acts like he is acting now, like he doesn't know what to do with me, so he drugs me and gives me busywork to do.

Leo comes into the lab and opens his mouth to shout at Donny but then notices that I am in the room. In a strained voice he asks, "Don, can I see you in the other room for a minute."

Donny glances my way and then gets up to leave. I hate it when they are out of sight. Bad things happen when you are alone. Leo closes the door behind him. I can hear muffled voices through the door but not what they are saying. I know I am not supposed to leave my chair but I do it anyways and sit next to the rat girl. Maybe if I sit close enough the bad dreams wont come.

I don't know how long I was staring at her face before she opened her eyes. "Hi," I say, "My name is Raph. What is yours?"

"Amber," she says faintly.

TBC...


	6. I've Got to be dreaming

Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT.

Amber's POV:

OK. I will admit when I opened my eyes and saw this big green face staring down at me I was speechless and then it opens it giant mouth and… talks! I though for sure that it was going to take a bite out of me, or something, but instead it just ask me my name. It was then that I realized that it was a boy and a young one by the sound of his voice. I answer his question trying to sound older then him but instead my voice is weak and faint. Inwardly I winced and knew that making that first impression of who is boss here was blown. _Yeah defiantly blown, _I thought as green dude starts lecturing me about how it is dangerous to leave the lair and that I could have been hurt, killed, or worse captured by scientists. I had to smile at that last one because I had escaped from the scientists, I had been hurt, and I might have died. My smile quickly faded as I thought about that, all these things had happened to me and no one noticed or cared and now I have this mental retarded telling me what to do. Not only that but he looks funny too. I think he is a monster. As he continued lecturing me, I started noticing more and more details about him that made my skin crawl. I have to get out of here.

Quickly I sat up and noticing the IV in my arm I immediately yanked out and jumped off the other side of the bed only to fall to the floor. Besides bruising my rump, my actions has caused Mr. Green to stop talking about something called splinter and come around to my side of the bed and loom over me; which cause me to get up and run or rather limp away from him as fast as I could toward the door. When I neared it I climbed up the chair onto the desk and across the surface to the door and grabbed the handle, turned it, swung it open, dropped to the floor, and ran through the door. The door swung closed behind me and Mr. Green was still standing by the table with a confused look on his stupid face.

The room I entered was large and open, with other doors and a staircase leading up to a second floor. The noise of the shutting door caused three other green people to walk out of a side cavern into the open space and to stare at me. Behind me I heard a voice going from a low whine to all out panicked cries of "where is Amber" as the recently shut door burst open behind me. I nearly jumped out of my skin as Mr. Green saw me and started charging towards me. _Crude, _I thought I ran... I ran as if there were demons behind me, and there were, four green ones.

The one in blue had managed to grab on to my tail as I tried to hide behind the TV, I screamed at the top of my lungs, and Mr. Green crotched down on the floor covering his ears softly crying out no, no, no over and over again. However, Mr. Blue kept on pulling until I was out from behind the TVs and he held me firmly in his grip. I struggled for several minutes before I resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't going to escape and looked around.

Mr. Orange was rubbing the shell of Mr. Green who was now whimpering. Mr. Purple was entering the room from the side room caring two slightly steaming cups and headed towards Mr. Green. Mr. Orange looked like he was going to protest but instead sighed and stepped aside as Mr. Purple had Mr. Green drink one of the cups of fluid. It took just a few moments before Mr. Green was no longer cry but rather looking very happy and very out of it. Now, Mr. Purple was coming towards me with the other happy cup and I wanted nothing of it. I was told that I could behave or have some tea and I didn't want to do either. So, I tried to bite Mr. Blue and in a few moments I had drank the entire cup of tea. _Ah, life is so good,_ I thought,_ it didn't matter that I was surrounded by strange monsters that were questioning me, what mattered was that I was warm in the lap of Mr. Green and nothing in the world could upset me, not even the bath Mr. Green planed to give me latter as his first act as big brother. I am so lucky to have such a great family!_

_TBC... Please read and reveiw _


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